News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 8:00 pm, Friday, September 10, 2004

The project cost about $300,000, with the state paying $90,000 and Danbury paying $210,000.

"That's about $30,000 less than budget," said Public Works Director Bill Buckley, who crossed the bridge Friday afternoon. "Back in October we promised the Common Council we'd open at the end of August, and I think that back in October this looked like the end of August. At least, somewhere in the universe, it's the end of August."

The bridge had been failing since about 1997, when a hole opened in the deck. The city covered the hole with a metal sheet, but it kept growing larger over the years, and last year workers realized the hole had reached the size that a vehicle could fall through.